Reports

British sprinter Dan McLay wins Trofeo Palma but ends up in hospital after post-race crash

Fortuneo-Vital Concept snatches victory in photo finish but suffers facial injuries after crashing into photographer

British sprinter Dan McLay claimed his first race win of 2017 on the final day of Challenge Mallorca, but finished the night in hospital after crashing into a photographer.

McLay won the Trofeo Palma by the tightest of margins, a photo finish having been required to separate the Brit, Bora-hansgrohe’s Matteo Pelucchi and French star Nacer Bouhanni.

But moments after the Fortuneo-Vital Concept man crossed the line, he crashed into a photographer and was admitted to hospital with cuts to his lips and missing teeth.

Super happy to win today in mallorca! The team was excellent! Regarding the crash after the line, i’m fine! Still a beautiful as ever and the moustache remains intact!

A photo posted by Dan McLay (@danmclay) on Jan 29, 2017 at 7:38am PST

Suggestions he had also damaged his jaw were disproved by an x-ray, however, and the 25-year-old posted a photo from his hospital bed to confirm he was OK.

“Super happy to win today in Mallorca,” he wrote. “Regarding the crash after the line, I’m fine! Still as beautiful as ever and the moustache remains intact!”

The photographer was in the middle of the road, after the finish line, and ran into McLay as he tried to take evasive action (pic – AS)

Mobile phone footage later posted on AS.com highlighted the full extent of the crash, with the photographer in the middle of the road as the sprinters approach the finish line.

He then tried to take evasive action, only to run directly in front of McLay, leaving the Brit helpless to prevent the collision.

McLay’s victory comes just days after his Fortuneo-Vital Concept were confirmed as having received a Tour de France wildcard, meaning McLay will be bidding to mix it up with the WorldTour’s sprinting heavyweights again having impressed on his debut in 2016.

The fourth pro win of his career was therefore a timely reminder of his ever-growing sprinting prowess, and denied Lotto-Soudal a cleansweep of victories in Mallorca after Andre Greipel and Tim Wellens, twice, had won the first three races.

Dan McLay won his first race of the season at Challenge Mallorca in a photo finish (Pic: Unisport Prensa)

McLay’s victory was the second British success of the season, after Jon Mould (JLT-Condor) won a stage of the New Zealand Cycle Classic.

Fellow sprinters Mark Cavendish and British champion Adam Blythe will get their season underway this week, meanwhile, as they compete at the Dubai Tour.

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